for atheists only!!

The Devil Inside said:
american indians have a strong tradition of gods......
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no sorry wrong.
the indians belief was on of Animism.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism]
they believe all animals and all of nature to have a spirit, the indian would not kill an animal to eat, without first making it right with the animals spirit.
the great spirit was mother nature, no gods, but yes a spirit.
 
The Devil Inside said:
well, honesty is a trait that is admirable. the point is to get to know the folks on this board a little bit better. the selection of a religion by a non-religious person says alot about the kind of person they are. Yeah, dishonest!
so far, i think my favorite is Cris. Deism. its one of my personal favorite belief systems, and is very very very close to actual judaism (my religion).
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If honesty were a trait that you truly admired, as opposed to people who believe similarly to you, then my honesty in refusing to 'sell my soul' for whatever coercive reasons aught also be more 'admirable' to you than the 'whores' who so readily abandoned their 'vision', their 'authenticity', because of a bit of 'coersion'...
Perhaps we are learning a bit more about YOU here...
*__-
 
The Devil Inside said:
coyote, raven, the world turtle....
sorry, you are wrong.
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That would clearly be animism. Though there were Native American religions and worldviews that recognized gods. But, again, these gods weren't limited in form and could animate animals or even rain and mountains. Your perception of Native American religion is undoubtedly biased by the lens of your own. This is called ethnocentrism or even religiocentrism.
 
geeser said:
wow! are you in cloud cookooland.
"If the self is an illusion", that's says it all, how is that rational, nothing can be deemed rational if it refers to illusion, hallucination, imagination, fantasy.
thus reincarnation cannot be explained rationally.
wake up and smell the coffee.

if I had no choice, then I could'nt chose, however, I would prefer an american indian religion/way of life, no gods just respect of life and the land.
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I can certainly speak in a rational way about illusions, why is that strange? The way most people concieve of reincarnation is tied up in the frame of the individual and the Christian concept of the soul. I don't think people have souls that transfer from body to body. I don't think there is any particular thing to which karma can attach itself. However, new bodies are formed every day, and the concepts and customs that fill the minds of these bodies are inherited from culture. People that transcend the rut of culture by realizing enlightenment overcome this process, they break the cycle, and are no longer reborn in this way. They have, in effect, broken the mold and become individuals.
 
SkinWalker said:
That would clearly be animism. Though there were Native American religions and worldviews that recognized gods. But, again, these gods weren't limited in form and could animate animals or even rain and mountains. Your perception of Native American religion is undoubtedly biased by the lens of your own. This is called ethnocentrism or even religiocentrism.
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lol actually....
my views of the religions of the native americans is biased by my ex girlfriend of 5 years, who was an ojibwe indian. i learned alot about the native folks of north america from her, and through attending tribal meetings, thank you very much.
 
SnakeLord said:
Why? The thread title was: "for atheists only". I am an atheist and so answered the question. Deal with it.. :rolleyes: :m:
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actually you didnt answer the question according to the specifications that were put forth. all you did was say "none", and then act belligerently when pressed for a post that was "on topic".
 
I'll change my answer. I would worship COYOTE (Southwestern Indians, but known in other areas as well)... I like to play practical jokes on people.
 
Dr Lou Natic said:
Christianity.
I consider myself a christian anyway. That's the animal I am, I'm the product of a christian society etc etc.
It's just that I don't actually believe in god or think jesus was anything more than a whiny jew.
But that's kind of insignificant in the big scheme of things, it's just my thoughts and feelings, I'm still technically a christian, thats the breed of homo sapien I belong to and I would fight and die for christianity as it is my family strain.
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Be honest with God and yourself.

Also, how can you be a Christian if you think Jesus was nothing more than a whiny jew? The term "Christian" means you follow Jesus Christ's teachings.

Drop the label, it doesn't suit you if you believe only because you were bred a Christian. Stand up and tell your family, "I don't believe in God." Don't be afraid of rejection. Embrace the truth. If you trust God, then trust that God will show you the truth.

Be a Christian because you don't have a choice because God has proven himself to you. Otherwise, you are illogical by believing in God, and denying yourself in deceit.
 
actually you didnt answer the question according to the specifications that were put forth.
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The 'specifications' were faulty. My answer to that faulty question was simply "none" on the basis that nobody could force me into anything. If that's belligerent, then fine.. but I considered the answer as worthwhile, and could do no better to a moot question.
 
I understand where Snake is coming from. The question doesn't correspond to any realistic cicrumstance. In reality there can never be a situation where a choice of no religion is unavailable. Certainly there can be consequences.

For myself, I resolve the question by assuming choosing non-religion would result in my death. Choosing a religion that entertains me or doesn't impact my life would be a way to keep myself alive and wouldn't impact the fact that I would be a closet atheist.

In snake's case, he may choose no religion and take the consequence of doing so. Maybe the question would work better for him if there was a significant positive consequence or negative consequence of not choosing a religion (ergo, to the point where he accepts he has no choice). Of course, that threshold may not exist for him.

Of course Snake could always just imagine that he had some kind of mental implant that wouldn't allow the thought of not choosing a religion to be remotely considered (and of course would allow all other thoughts to flow freely). It's a stretch and maybe he could work with it.
 
The Devil Inside said:
lol actually....
my views of the religions of the native americans is biased by my ex girlfriend of 5 years, who was an ojibwe indian. i learned alot about the native folks of north america from her, and through attending tribal meetings, thank you very much.
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You may have "learned a lot," but with regard to the Ojibwe/Chippewa religion, you missed something. Like many, if not most, Native worldviews, the Ojibwe (they deserve a capital letter, by the way) believe in a creator. But this isn't a "perfect" god as with the "modern" religions of Europeans. This creator is imperfect and its imperfection is reflected in the world it created. The creator -some Native cultures call it the Spirit that Moves Through All Things- takes the form of animals and forces of nature (like the sun or earth). This is called animism.

Saying otherwise won't make it so. But this is to be expected, the devoutly religious frequently try to apply traditions of their own cult to those of others. Pre-axial (to quote Robert Belah) religions are easy targets for this sort of thing. There's an anthropological term for a dominating religion applying itself through a submissive one's traditions, but it eludes me at the moment.
 
Of course Snake could always just imagine that he had some kind of mental implant that wouldn't allow the thought of not choosing a religion to be remotely considered
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Lol, fine.. :D

(Aside from the obvious answer that my brain would fight the implant until it was utterly destroyed), I suppose I'd.. wait.. lol, I literally can't.

I suppose my only option is to use the answer a poster did back at the beginning of this thread:

Some say that science is a religion, (or quite often that atheism is somehow a religion), and thus would choose a combination of those two.
 
SkinWalker said:
the devoutly religious frequently try to apply traditions of their own cult to those of others. Pre-axial (to quote Robert Belah) religions are easy targets for this sort of thing. There's an anthropological term for a dominating religion applying itself through a submissive one's traditions, but it eludes me at the moment.
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what in the hell are you talking about? you dont know me, so dont say you know what i am saying if you intentionally misunderstand/twist my words to make me seem like an imperialist asshole. you just dont know how to concede that native americans had gods. you said they didnt, and i proved you wrong.

i am perfectly capable of having quite intelligent conversations, but i am starting to doubt this forum's ability to provide conversation itself. you are a "perpetually correct" person, even when proven wrong. welcome to my ignore list.
 
the devil inside, how childish, I said you were wrong not skinwalker, in regard to the native americans worshipping the spirit of the animal, this is definitely called Animism, wether you think, there gods and not spirits has nothing to do with that fact.
put me on your ignore list please, your not worthy of conversation.
 
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